Welcome To The Jungle
by silence.is.gold
Summary: Highschool is quite like jungle. Only the strong will survive. So when you are doing Steve Jaffe's girlfriend, that you fall in love with some other cheerleader, that both Steve and his girl want you dead and that your friends are more intrested in their own life than in your problems, you are not actually considered as strong. AU. Shane & Carmen. Rating M for next chapters.
1. Bullying

1) Bullying  
Shane's point of view

I had no clue of how it happened, but at this very right moment, I was hung to the basketball hoop by some strong adhesive tape joining my ankles together and firmly sticking them to the hoop. The gymnasium I was in, was completely empty, the clock, right in front of me was indicating 11 am. I was there since 8 this morning. Since 8, I was there, hanging in reverse, already feeling numb as blood was rushing to the upper part of my body. I tried to work my abs out a few times, but it only ended up making my phone fall on the ground instead of reducing my amount of annoyance. My hands were tied together, and to make them even more useless, the moron that hung me there, had covered them with some sticky grey tape.  
20 minutes later, I was wriggling to catch my phone, way too low for me to even touch it.

"- Shit" I muttered, feeling my brains boiling with all the hot blood that was flooding that part of my anatomy.  
I bent forward, well, in this position, it was more like bending up, using all the muscles that my stomach had in store to keep a posture in which my head wasn't exactly reversed.

And when my body began to feel tired and that I gave in, letting my self dangle down by the ankle, the door opened, and not only to let one person in, but the whole cheerleaders' team dressed in their too short skirts and shirts, in the colors of the high school, that weren't letting lots of things to my imagination. I was now wrestling and trying to put on my black beanie to hide my face and keep my identity secret, but my hands, unusable, make it fall down, and to keep the little dignity I still had I covered my face with my adhesive rolled up hands. It was when I thought I could pretend to be an unknown student that I noticed that my T-shirt was completely fold against my neck and left a perfect sight of my chest. Blushing slightly, I put my hands off of my eyes, after I closed them tight, to pull my shirt back straight against my jeans.

"-Cherrie" I heard someone say, but I couldn't put a name on that bitchy voice since I kept my eyes shut. "Isn't it your sex-toy over there?"  
Now, I was feeling quite observed. Moreover, there were only very, very few chances that Cherrie wouldn't recognize me, so in a desperate motion, I opened one eye.

"-Hey Cherrie, look… Why don't you help me down?" I asked with a dumb smile, getting even more aware that all the looks were directed toward me. Cherrie Perroni and Gabby Devaux were merely to steps before me and were looking pretty much amused by what they saw.

"-I'm not tall enough" Said Cherrie, the blonde one with the tanned skin and the round ass trapped in her too tight skirt, pointing at the hoop.

"-And, I just got manicured… Sorry Shane"

Gabby, the arrogant looking blue eyed brunette started to crack up before tugging on her low-necked shirt, to make her breasts show up even more.  
I grunted when I heard my named followed by this squeaky laugh and watched them turn around and go back to where they came leaving me in my oh-so uncomfortable position. I then swore to myself that I would never sleep with Cherrie again… OK, this is a promise I can't keep, I rarely keep the promises I made to myself. The bunch of girls began to talk but I wasn't really listening to what they were saying, much more interested by their athletic bodies. I had nothing better to do, so I found that looking them over wasn't a bad idea to prevent myself from an unalterable death due to boredom… And shame. Yes, I was a bit ashamed at this moment. Something began to surprise me, actually I was puzzled. None of them were paying attention to me, as if they found it perfectly ordinary to see someone hanging by the ankles to the basketball hoop. I wasn't complaining, don't get me wrong, I didn't want them nor to scrutinize me and neither to recognize me. I relaxed my arms, letting them swing in the air, over my head, my shirt folding just a bit and showing my stomach, stopping were my small breasts were.  
Cherrie plugged her radio to the electrical outlet apparently seeking some music to dance.

"-Girls, do you remind choreography?" Said Gabby chewing on gum vulgarly

I suddenly felt disgusted, most of all because that girl was spending almost all her nights in Alice's bed. Yes just, almost all her nights, because, she was using the rest of those to cheat on Alice, who was one of my best friend. Gabby was a monster with her and that was something I had a hard time coping with.

"-Gabby, I can't find…" A blond girl amongst the others began to say. I knew her well, Tina, she was going out with a guy named Henry, one of the basketball players, ok, that wasn't really a sensational revelation, given that nearly all the cheerleaders were going out with basketball players. She was pretty, kind, a bit lost in the definition of who she was and of who she should be, though.

"-Know what? I don't care!" Answered Gabby coldly before returning by Cherrie's side "Cherrie, Miss Chachacha is missing"

"-Probably eating paella or tacos. I swear to you, the day that she won't be able to get into her uniform anymore, I'm dismissing her." She turn on the music "In place girls" She shouted, taking place right in the middle. The song "tainted love" from Soft Cell was pulsating in the whole room.

Each girl began to dance, according to their choreography and the task they had. Tina was gently smiling at me while Cherrie was screaming her lungs out on some girls that weren't moving the right way. Strangely enough, I found myself mouthing the lyrics while my eyes were following the asses and boobs in my sight. Ok, the second part wasn't that strange for me.

"-Sometimes I feel I've got to…" I couldn't finish that line, as the grinding sound of the door cracking open interrupted me. A girl carrying a large amount of bags appeared. Cherrie stopped the music and looked at her like she was going to bite.

"-Carmen… 20 minutes late. Not even dressed up…" She sighted pinching the bridge of her nose, acting like she has done a terrible mistake.

"-Listen Cherrie, if I could have come here in time, then be sure I would have." The girl replied keeping her head high while all the other cheerleaders were looking at their feet.

The girl put down one of her bags in the first row of seats beside the basketball court and approached me, her sport bag hanging on her shoulder. She gave me an amused look and stopped walking for a second to glance at me. She seemed to scan my body with her eyes, and just to return here appreciating gaze, I did the same. There were a lot of beautiful girls in the high school, but there were only very few who could leave me speechless. And this time I couldn't open my mouth, except for drooling maybe. All that my eyes were roaming over was perfectly perfect, her long, curly and shiny dark hair, her gold tanned skin, her thin toned body, her amazing feminine shapes, the arching of her back, her slightly muscled legs and the smooth and beautiful features of her face. Her two soft and sparkling brown eyes topped by long lashes were staring right into my dull green ones. And her too kissable lips parted a bit as she was flashing me a million dollar smile. She had Hispanic origins I think, yeah she has to be Mexican or something. At this point I was grinning foolishly reckoning that she was pretty. Pretty, well that was way too low to qualify her. A euphemism, definitely.

"-Carmen? You mind moving your ass? There's nothing to look at!" Screamed Cherrie in a high pitch voice, one hand on her hip  
Carmen bowed her head a bit and turned to my right before casting me one last furtive glance. I was pretty sure I heard her whispering "hot hot hot" as she passed me by. Now that she had disappeared behind the door I was staring at it with my brows knitted together wishing for her to come back. While I was dreaming of 1001 ways to get that Carmen girl screaming my name at the top of her lungs I heard a familiar voice warning me.

"-Don't even think about it..."  
I looked around and find myself face to face with Cherrie. I wondered how she managed to get this close this quickly or maybe it was just that I was glaring at the wooden door for too long time. Her piercing blue eyes were daring me to disobey her and I gulped. She then kissed me on the lips and went back with the group of cheerleaders, her hips swaying excessively each step she took.

"-Alright girls, enough for today" Cherrie said

"- But Carmen…" Began Tina

"-Next time, she'll be on time" Answered Gabby more than pleased with her friend's decision.  
The girl team headed for the door located on my right, the one Carmen walked through few minutes ago, and, before one of the girls could grab the knob, Carmen appeared, all dressed up.

"-Turn around, you were too slow, we're finished" Gaby spat, her words like venom in her mouth.  
Carmen looked at her with a hint of disgust then settled her sight on me, as if seeing me in my ridiculous position would chill her out. I offered her a goofy smile and she started laughing before being jostled by all her teammates that were dragging her backwards in the process.

"-Fuck" I muttered shaking my head, slowly noticing that I was alone again, hung by my ankles to that goddamned hoop, my useless arms resting in the air on top of my head. The hands of the clock started to dance before my tired eyes when my phone rang, Nickelback's lyrics-sung by my friend Mark-pulsating in the whole gym.

"- S is for the simple need, E is for the ecstasy, X is just to mark the spot 'cause that's the one you really want, yes! Sex is always the answer…"

I was trying to see who the hell as calling me, but some strands of my hair were keeping me from seeing my phone below me. Right then I heard someone laughing out loud from the terraces. I knew that laugh, I knew it too well, I had heard it a thousand times.

"- Your ringtone is soooo you" Said Mark, that I could now see, his lips were slightly parted as he was still chuckling.

"-Stop making fun of… Wait, Mark… For how long have you been here?"

"-I saw Jaffe hanging you there actually" He said, his words broken by chuckles. He tried to pat my back but in that position, well, it was my ass.  
"-Why didn't you act a bit sooner?" I groaned trying to punch him with my adhesive covered hands.

"-I was settling my cameras to film Miss World and her dancers" He explained pulling a pair of scissors out of the bag he had in his hands.

The one Mark was calling "Miss World" was better known as Cherrie Perroni, she was somehow the High-school's queen, everybody knew her, she was going out with the captain of the basketball team and she was the cheerleaders' leader or something.

"- And… Why did Jaffe hung you there?" Mark asked cutting carefully the tape between my hands.

"-I think he knows that I'm fucking his girl" I mumbled feeling the pressure encircling my wrists loosening.

"-You think ?" Mark repeated with a smirk.

"-He told me to keep it in my pants, so yes, I think… But, between us, I rarely take my pants off"  
Mark shook his head laughing of my brilliant humor, well more like brilliantly cynical. When he finished saving my precious fingers he handed me his scissors for me to cut the rest of the tape by myself.

"-It's your fault, and why in the name of god amongst all the girls you can have in your bed you pick up Cherrie Perroni… I mean, she's such a pain in the ass, mate" Said Mark frowning.

"-With me she's kind and … You know what, in a way, I find it funny the way that asshole of Steve Jaffe, thinks his "punishments" are frightening me… Hold my shoulders in place"  
Mark did as I said, placing his palms firmly under my arms to sustain me when I would have cut the umbilical cordon that was still connecting me to the hoop.

"-That Morales girl is cute…" He muttered as I was twisting my body in the air to get rid of the tape.

"-Who?" I asked, trying to cut it.

"-Carmen" He added before I fell hard on him.  
He collapsed on the floor under the unwitting weigh.

"- Try your luck" I said with a fainted smile. I got back up and grab my stuffs. I put my beanie back on my head and looked who had just called me. Alice? What the fuck did she want? Maybe she was worried because I wasn't in class this morning.

"-I don't think I'm her type…" Mark sighed, running his fingers through his hair in a fail attempt to comb them.

"-People do not have a type, well I don't. Or all girls I see are my type…" I retort looking in my in-box that was counting a dozen of "Where are you"s all from Alice.

"-You don't see girls Shane… You see pussies" he scoffed "And moreover, she dismissed Gomey and Tim"  
I start to chuckled and texted Alice back : "I'm alrite, don't worry"

"-Even If I was the straightest girl in the world I wouldn't go out with Gomey. And for fuck's sake, Tim just got out of his relationship with Jenny, I would perfectly understand that Carmen to be unwilling to be the girl you fuck to forget about your ex and…"

"-That's the problem" Said Mark cutting me in my explanations. He opened the door of the gym and let me pass by him. Sometimes his gentleman-like attitude was pissing me off but I didn't say anything, he was surely just trying to be polite or whatever. And Mark was one of my best friends, one of those on whom you can count on even if sometimes they chose to react… 2 hours late.  
I turned my head to him with an inquisitive look  
"-She's going out with Jen"

I slowly raised my eyes, I needed a little bit time to be able to register that.  
"-Kiddin' me ?" I answered laughing while he was pulling me to the dining hall.  
He shook his head no, and smiled to Alice and Dana who were walking to us. Alice was fuming and her steps were menacing.

"-Shane, you're pissing me off! The chemistry-test! It was this morning! You were supposed to be my partner, remember? I had to do that alone you fucking idiot! And you missed the test, the teacher said you can't take it any other day. Fuck me, I'm sure I won't pass… You'd better have a good excuse… And don't tell me you fell in love with you one night stand last night and you wanted to offer her breakfast, it won't work with me!" She said her arms crossed tight over her blouse which collar was covered by her blond hair. Her eyebrows were knitted and her dark eyes were glaring daggers at me.

Even before I managed to answer something Mark had decided to stand up for me.  
"-Jaffe hazed her" He finished his sentence with a slap in my back.

"-Thanks" I answered sarcastically while a relatively large amount of faces in the corridor were turning to look at me.

"-Who was hazed by Steve Jaffe?" Asked a petite blue eyed brunette who had just reached us.

"-Oh, Jenny, we were talking about Shane" Alice informed her pointing a finger at me.

"-What did you do to him?" Jenny questioned with her falsely innocent voice.  
I sighed, ready to answer before somebody else did.

"-She's doin' his girl" Mark stated nodding his head, a chuckle escaping his lips.  
This time we did not go unnoticed, all around us, girls and boys were muttering, their eyes stuck on me.

"-Seriously?" Claimed Jenny with here big eyes wide opened "Shane? You are fucking Miss World ?"

"-I swear to you" Mark laughed

"-Since when ?" Asked Jenny intrigued

Then all heads were turning in my direction, no one was able to respond her.  
"-Well, few months but I have no idea of how he learned about it…"

"-He checked her texts" A low voice said behind my back, I think it was trying to be frightening.  
I turned around very slowly and saw a tall blond guy who was wearing about 1000 bucks of clothes. "I'm not gonna blame you for being stupid enough and trying to seduce Cherrie, but at least be discreet"  
I looked up at him as slowly as I could, as if a too fast move would make him bite me. When I set my eyes on his satisfied grin I couldn't manage to swallow back the words I was about to retort.

"-I didn't seduce anyone, dude, it's your girlfriend that ran in my bed I didn't…" I understood a bit late that this comment was too much. Steve had grab me by the collar and smashed me against the wall. He started to shout at me spluttering in my face, his arm raised in the air ready to hit me.

"-60 bucks that he's not gonna beat her up" Said Alice holding out her hand.

"-Deal" Answered Mark giving her five.

* * *

**Author note : **So, this is the first story I've ever published, I'm not english, it's a language I'm currently learning, so, if I misspelled some words let me know. I wanted to write in the past tense so I may have fucked up with this too... Well, I hope you enjoyed your reading, and I'll be glad if you review, thank you anyway.


	2. About a girl

2) About a girl  
Carmen's point of view

I was finally free. After a week of captivity on the arm of Jenny Shecter I had gotten rid of her. It's not that she was a pain in the ass but… Ok, she was definitely a pain in the ass. She had harassed me during months, never stopping to ask me out, finally I had given up and accepted. I didn't want to hurt her, on the contrary, I wanted to please her. But after she made a scene because we still hadn't fucked after a week, I couldn't take it anymore and had to break up with her. And that what took me this long this morning, yes, because Jenny seems to think that a break-up scene has to be filled with tears and everything, so I spent 20 minutes trying to comfort her after letting her down. And now all this shit had made me really late for my cheerleading rehearsal. I was currently running in the corridors, heading for the gym where all my team should already be. I had two big bags dangling on my shoulders making me unsteady on my legs.

When I finally reached the place I was looking for, the first thing that hit me was that the music was playing and that the girls were dancing. Damned, I was really late. The second thing was an angry Cherrie shouting at me. I answered her that I couldn't be on time with annoyance.  
Cherrie was the only person who could piss me off this easily, well actually only the sight of her face was pissing me off. She was always screaming. Always. She was NEVER pleased with any of the dancers and she really seemed to think I was her punching-ball. And what sucked the most with her was that she was hot. She knew it damned well. And that was making me craving to slap her. Or hit her. Or do anything that would injure her and her pretty face.

I dropped one of my bags on one of the seats and made my way to the locker-room.  
I passed by the girls, looking at my feet, and when I dared looking back up, my gaze meet the strangest thing ever. There was a girl hanging in reverse from the basketball hoop. I couldn't repress the chuckle growing in my throat. She was looking kind of dumb with her messy hair and her shirt folded against her chest. My eyes stopped on her stomach, her skin was as white as snow and her abs were well defined. I let my eyes drop to her face. She was smiling. Her face was flushed, and her eyes were sparkling. Somehow I couldn't stop to look at them. I was pretty sure they were calling me, I could hear them : "Carmen look at here babe" And I was obeying them, I stayed there looking that girl in the eyes, finding her strangely and overly attractive.

"-Carmen? You mind moving your ass?" I heard Cherrie say in her boring voice. Well maybe her voice wasn't that boring but… I just can't deal with her. So I resumed walking and left those stunning eyes behind me. I turned round when I was about to open the door, just to check that girl out some more. A slender and lanky body that was making my heart ache. I shook my head, thinking that I had better things to do… Like getting ready before Miss World try to kill me with her own hands.

"-Hot, hot, hot" I muttered closing the door behind me, resting my back on it for mere seconds trying to forget the amazing sight that door was keeping me away from.

"-Cherrie Perroni is a fucking bitch" I hissed, sitting in a chair in the dining hall.

"-What did she do?" Asked Papi, one of my best friends ending her chatting with Tasha when I sat down

"-She's acting like she always does. Such a fucking…"

"-Go easy on the F word Carm" Tasha warned me crossing her arms.

"- Sorry but I can't take it anymore, she's horrible with me, this morning I was late for the training but I apologized, and when I came back from the locker-room they had finish, you know. I'm so sure that fu" Tasha gave me a warning look "hm, that, hm, Cherrie, did it on purpose, she wanted to make me pay or something…"

Papi shrugged and took a bite of her pastas.  
"- I understand your point, Miss World has never spent a night with me, she can't be happy and she is making you pay for the fact that you are my friend and…"

Tasha laughed.  
"-Right Papi, all the girls are lusting over you" She added mocking her friend.

"-They definitely are!"

Tasha shook her head and turned to face me.  
"-And your girlfriend? Why aren't you with her?"

I started to eat. The meal wasn't disgusting today: pasta, it was an ok meal unlike my day which was for now an epic fail.  
"-I broke up with her this morning" I told her.

Tasha raised here eyebrows. The black skin of her face slightly distorted in sign of surprise.  
"-May I asked you why ?" She inquired peeling an apple while Papi was choking on her pastas trying to say something.

"-She' sn't 'ood n'bed ?" Papi managed to get out.  
She swallowed and repeated:  
"-She wasn't good in bed?"

Tasha slapped her palm against her forehead and sigh.

"-What did I say?" Asked Papi watching the reaction of her friend.  
Tasha did not answer and looked at me instead.

"- She actually wanted me in her bed, it's still too early for me" I stated.

Tasha gave me a smile and Papi one of her most puzzled look.  
"- Carmen, how can you still be virgin?" She said, sadened.

"- I think it's a good thing, you need someone special that will respect you, not some player like Papi" Tasha assured with a nod.

"- I'm not a player! I'm just… sharing" Countered Papi finishing her plate.

I giggled, and bowed my head staring at my plate as if I was able to make it melt.  
"-This morning I… I" I stuttered my cheeks getting all red and hot.

"-You ?" Asked Tasha while Papi was texting some girl with her phone.

"I saw a chick…"

Papi's head rose at that word.  
"-You saw a chick?" She said with a wink, her phone long forgotten.

"-Yes" I said not daring to look up.

"-What's her name?" Questioned Papi

I could feel her eyes on me, and they were painful, I hated to talk about that kind of thing with her. She would always end up saying that she should be my first, that she was better than any other girl and on every level. Though, I had to talk, and in case Papi got boastful, Tasha was there to remind her of who she really was.

"-err, sparkling green eyes and goofy smile?" I tried

"- Ok, Carmen, the first thing you are supposed to do with a girl you like is asking for her name, not eye-fucking her…" Papi told me with a haughty kind of look.

"-Who's liking a girl?" Asked Pablo sitting down beside me.

Papi was about to answer him when I gave her a death glare. Pablo was my brother, there was no way he can be aware of my homosexuality.  
"-Shut up" I mouthed when my two friends were looking at me with puzzled looks.

"-I do, I like a girl" Papi stated after a while when Pablo was about to ask his question for a second time.

"-You always do Eva" Said Pablo pushing a bit of food with the edge of his fork.  
Eva was Papi's real name, but her friends always called her by her nickname. Except Pablo. Because he thought that the "Papi" thing had something to do with Eva's sexual orientations.  
Pablo wasn't homophobic… Well he was just a boy, raised in a Christian Mexican family, my family. He was smart, but he just couldn't cope with gayness… And he was my brother, my favorite one, so I wasn't willing to argue with him on that.

"- I'm auditioning to be a drummer in a band!" Announced Pablo raising his two muscular arms in the air in a victorious motion

"-Congratulations" I said smilling.

"-They are not gonna chose you…" Stated Papi

He gave her the finger and was about to retort when the doors shot wide open.

"- GET OUT OF THE WAAAAAAY" A guy shouted. He had just kicked the door open and was supporting a girl with his arm. She was badly injured and was limping. On the other side of her was a blond girl who was trying to help but in a vain attempt.

"-'m gonna kill him" Groaned the wounded girl, spiting blood on the ground.

"- Alice, you owe me 60 bucks" The guy claimed with a bright smile.

"-Guys is that vanilla over there?" Papi asked "God this is definitely her !"

She cracked up. Tears were filling up her eyes and her breath was uneven as she couldn't stop laughing.  
I looked over to the girl Papi was showing with her finger and gulped. It was her. With a black eye and a cut lip in extra.  
Pablo looked as interested as me, and quite worried too.

"-You know her?" I questioned, watching the guy helping that "vanilla" sitting down on a chair.

"- Who? Shane?" Pablo and Papi answered at the same time.

"-How do you both know her?" I added, surprised that even my brother seemed to know her.

"- Rival"  
"-WAX"  
They had spoken in the same time, looking at each other.

"-What?" I said not understanding a single thing.

"-She's my rival" Papi told me with a shrug.

"- Wax is the band I'm applying for" Pablo mentioned his eyes not leaving the 3 new comers.

"-Your rival?"

"-You know Papi thinks that every girl who has as much or more success than her with girls is her rival" Stated Tasha while Pablo has gotten up.

"-My father was a Mayan medicine man!" He yelled approaching Shane and her friends.

"-What the fuck is he doing?" Asked Papi

"-Trying to be part of WAX I think" Tasha replied.

I did not understand everything they were talking about. What the fuck was WAX? What the fuck was that "rival" thing. And why the fuck my brother was acting like that with the girl **I **found attractive. Now Pablo was knelt before her and was looking at her face.  
"-Who did that to you?" He asked while the blond girl was handing a handkerchief to her friend.

Shane took it and wiped her mouth.  
"-Who are you?" She inquired biting her bottom lip painfully.

"-Well I'm Pablo Morales I play drums and I heard you were searching for a new drummer…"

Shane stopped him with a hand and closed her eyes tight.  
"-Can't you see it's not really the good moment to talk about that?" She told him now trying to look at her own face in the back of a spoon.

"-Yes… Err, this must hurt like a bitch" He said determined to speak to her.

"-It does. That fucker almost broke me into pieces."

"-I would be crying if this happened to me, you are not crying, you must be strong…" He stated in a lick-spittle way.

"-Seriously, I'm not, and stop that, the auditions are soon, just be there, because I'm not the kind to offer a part in my band against a bit of adoration."

Pablo sighed, got up and came back to his table. He sat back down, disappointed.

"-I'm so stupid"  
I heard him say while I was trying to catch a glance from Shane.  
"-Tomorrow I'm gonna see them at the Planet… I'll talk to them there I think" He added "Wanna come Carmen ?"

I was staring deeply at her. God, she only had to turn her head a bit. I was right there. I wanted to see her eyes, her smile, the way her face looked like when she wasn't in reverse…

"-Carmen ?"

She turned to me. My heart stopped I think. My mouth was dry and my hands, on the opposite were damp.

"Hey, Carmen ?"

Her eyes were still the same, though one was circled with a purplish mark. She smiled at me, that same smiled she gave me this morning, though now her teeth were slightly covered with blood.

"-Carmen !"

Someone slapped me on the back off my head and pulled me from my daydream.  
I looked around. They were no vacant place around my table now. 3 of my brother's friends had sat down and a bunch of girl was there too.  
"-What ?" I asked

"-Wanna come?" My brother said while Papi looked from me to Shane a couple of time with a horrified kind of look.

"-Where ?"

"-WAX, tomorrow, at the planet…" He added quite amused.

If I had heard well, that Shane had something to do with WAX. I shook my head. I was doing that for my brother not for some chick.  
"-No problem Pablo, I'm coming"

He smiled at me, and took me in his arms, genuinely happy.

* * *

**Author note **: Thank you to all those who rewiewed the first chapter :) that's really motivating. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one too, and thanks for reading.


	3. Hanging out

3) Hanging out  
Shane's point of view

"-How did you end up like this?" My Father asked me taking a bite of his chicken wing.

I did not answer, he didn't need to know how much his womanizer's genes were getting me in trouble.

"-It's that dude, Steve Jaffe who's beaten her up" replied Shay, my little brother while he was taking off the burnt skin of his chicken, putting it into my plate just like if it was the trash can.

"-How do you know that?" I asked him taken aback.  
How the fuck could he know about something I had never told him.

"-Well, you were out, your phone rang and … Alice told me that, before I had time to say "it's Shay""

My father watched the two of us not understanding then turned to Carla, his wife, to see if she had been able to decipher something.  
I pushed the beans to the edge of my plate and hate what Shay just put in.  
"-What did she want?"

Shay shrugged.  
"-No idea, she told me to forget 'bout what she said"

"-why?"

"-She was using the word "fuck" quite often…"

I laughed at that, it was so Alice. I got up and emptied my plate in the trash.

"-Shane… You're not eating anything…" Carla reprimanded me "You're only skin and bones!"  
I was only listening to her with one ear, I didn't like her that much, she was making me pay for my father's adulteries for the simple reason that "I was like him" and that she had to "treat the misbehaving at the source". I think she hates me even more since the day I told them I was lesbian. Why ? She thought that girls weren't in need of a new predator. And I think that the weirdest thing is that when my father heard her speech he told me he was proud. Sometimes, I didn't know which one was disgusting me the most.  
I took a cup and filled it with some coffee, left from this morning.

"-What about your grades Shane?" Asked Carla who was oubviously trying to make my day even worse.  
I had failed my math and my English exam, and I hadn't take the chemistry one this morning, that exam was counting for all the science part, and moreover my philosophy teacher was hating on me because I had, according to him, a morbid sight of life.

"- Well… I have to succeed in Spanish and History if I want to have the pass mark…" I muttered, drinking peacefully.

"-didn't you get an F to your last Spanish test?" Inquired Shay skeptical

"- E" I corrected him.

"- And in history?" Sighed Carla pinching the bridge of her nose

"-The teacher's completely in love with me" I said smiling.  
Shay chuckled and Gabriel, my father winked at me.

"-Ok, I can't take this anymore Gabriel, if I were you I would worry for your daughter's future, anyway, it's none of my business." She stood and went upstairs.  
"-I hope you know what you are doing…" My father told me before following her.

When the faint sound of their steps stopped and that the room was silent, Shay turned his head toward me.  
"-If you're not good at school, I'll save you when I'll be rich" He stated, then he came to me and hugged me tight, his little blue eyed head stuck on my chest.

"-I'm not sure it works like this but… Thank you Shay" I kissed the top of his head and resumed drinking my coffee.

"-Your heart is quiet" Shay noticed, his ear resting on me, staring at the wall before him in concentration. "-Does that mean your heart is tiny?"  
I laughed. Shay was 7, I was 10 years older. I had seen him grow up, I was living with my father since I was 11. He had let my mother down, she was the one who raised me, and then, one day, she had dropped me on the threshold of his front door before jumping from a bridge, killing herself in the process. I hated her for that, but I still loved her, she was my mother, she had been there for me, but she'd preferred to end her life, than to take care of her child in this cruel world.

"- It has no relation Shay, let's say I'm relaxed."

My phone started blasting obscenities in the air so I picked it up and glued it to my right ear.

"Yes ?" I said in my husky voice.

"-I'm in front of your house"  
I recognized Cherrie's voice automatically, well even without looking at the screen of my phone I knew it was her. I smiled, almost imperceptibly.  
"-Tonight, I'm taking you out for a date, Steve decided he didn't want to see me, so, I thought we could spend the night together, so hurry your ass up, I took my convertible car, and I'm freezing."  
Her bossy tone made me chuckle and I bit down on my lips.

"-Wait for me, I'll be there in a second" I hung up enthusiastically, I already knew where this night would be leading… Her, or my bed.

"-Not relaxed anymore?" Asked Shay frowning "You heart paced up"

"-No, I just thought about something pleasant" I stated laughing, I shook my phone under his nose "some things do that to you" Yes by "things" I was meaning sex.

I squeezed him tight one last time. I put on a jacket, took another one, pushed gently Remi my dog who tried to jump on me, and got out of the house before diving into Cherrie's car.

"'-Where are we going?" I asked her when I got inside.

"-Downtown" She replied. She, then, kissed me, pushing me down onto my seat in the process and making me shiver.  
She drew her eyes back on the road and I relaxed in the leather seat. I put one of my jackets around her shoulders and rested my hand on her nearly completely exposed thigh.

Taking a ride with Cherrie wasn't always enjoyable, above all when she was in a bad mood. And this day, she had chosen to whine, to whine about absolutely everything.

"- I mean, seriously? How am I supposed to be faithful if he's not giving me all I need? It's only been a month since he agreed to let me use" I understood abuse "his credit card."

I shrugged, I was actually considering asking her to let Jaffe down for me, that last sentence had turned me down a bit. If she needed loads of money… Well I did not have it.

"-And I'm fed up with the girls, they prefer listening to Miss chachacha talking about the way she left her psychopath of a girlfriend down instead of complimenting me on my new shoes"

I frowned.  
"-Mind what you say, Jenny's one of my best friends"

She sighed looking at me from the corner of her eyes.  
"-Shane, do you really want to be part of my shit day ?"

I folded my arms and changed the topic of the conversation.  
"-So you bought new shoes…"

She smiled at me.

"-And erm… Carmen and Jenny broke up?" I added scratching my nape uncomfortably.

She raised an eyebrow and her eyes left the road just long enough to throw me a disgusted look.  
"-You like her? You want her in your bed? If it's the case just say it, I can drive you to her…"

"-Shut the fuck up" I cut, turning my head for her to do the same.

"-What a shit day" She hissed stopping at a red light.

This time I was through with that, I opened the car door and got out.

"- Shane? Where the fuck are you going?" She yelled as I was stepping aside from her car to walk on the sidewalk. "-COME BACK HERE" Then she was honking and screaming my name.

I stopped on my way and came back to her. I bent over the car door and looked her in the eyes.  
"-Listen, I had a shit day too, ok? My fucking stepmother have a grudge against me for nothing, I missed my Chemistry test, one of the last I had to pass this semester, because of jealous fucktard, I got beaten black and blue by that same fucker later in the day and the only things my friends did was betting on how much punch in could bear without crying.  
So, having the girl I love taking it out on me because I find another girl in this wide world attractive, that would beat everything, don't you think?"

She blinked a few times and her features relaxed little by little. The traffics lights went green.  
"-What did you say? She asked almost mocking me.

"-Right" I sighed and put my hands in my pockets "I shouldn't have say I was finding her attractive, sorry"

The cars behind us began to honk and I heard some men shouting swearwords.  
"-Mind moving your car bitch?" bawled the driver of a truck.  
I gave him the finger and not even a look.

"-No, before that" She answered pretty pleased with herself.

"-That my friends …"

"-No the "the girl I love" part" She cut scrutinizing me.

"-Oh.. That …" I shrugged and bowed my head.

She laughed and told me to get back inside.  
"-You're a freak, and you're definitely naïve, anyway…"  
I didn't really know how to take this comment, but I got back in the car, too happy to dwell on it much longer.

Cherrie parked at the front of a little club called "the planet", well in fact it was a café where I was used to go, and where Cherrie had never stepped inside. Maybe she had some pity for me and hadn't dragged me in one of her society evenings or whatever. She got out of the car while I was already waiting for her on the sidewalk. When she caught up with me I could only admire her. Her hair were tied in a low pony-tail, her make-up was perfect, and her clothes, well what could I say about her clothes? A sophisticated top with a plunge neckline, over which I had already let my eyes roam, a tight and short skirt and 5 inches high heels, which were making her nearly as tall as me. It was a bit too dressy for me, according to my plain black V neck t-shirt, my old suit jacket, my worn out jeans and my Converses that were living their third year stuck to my feet, I was much more into casual clothes.  
I noticed that she had left the denim jacket I brought her in the car. Maybe she thought it wasn't suiting her style, or that it was too cheap to rest on her shoulders. My bitter thoughts were interrupted when her hand caught mine, her thumb slightly rubbing mine.

"-Why are we here?" I asked suddenly after a short time

"-You like that place, don't you?"  
I nodded, and headed for the entry.

"-So, If I want you to fuck me tonight, you'd better be in a good mood" She said, while I was holding the door open. I cast her an amused glance, I think she thought I was teasing her. "Anyway, I'm sure you would still fuck me if you were about to die" She added in a moan, her mouth against my earlobe.

I reckon her last sentence was the truth, after all that was all my life was about, flunking exams, driving my brother to school and sex, always more and more sex.

For now there was only a quiet music in the background of the planet, no DJ at the turntables, nobody on the dance floor and no one laying down drunk on the ground. Ok, my last idea happened rarely. But, if it was to happen tonight, I would be prepared. Cherrie sat down at a table and I went ordering us some drinks.

"-Come on Kit I'm nearly 18 and…"

Kit, the owner of the place, and a friend too, didn't seem to be ok with me ordering alcohol though.  
"-When you'll be 21, I'll let you drink whatever you'll want." She told me, crossing her arms.

"-… Well, maybe we can have an agreement?"

She frowned but nodded, letting me know that she was listening to me.  
"-I know you have difficulties finding bands and… I can arrange that…"

She sighed  
"-Ok, go on" She added looking interested.

"-Well, you know that Mark and I have a band and…"

"-You are not professional, I can't let you on stage the whole night, you're just worth a first part for a true band…" She cut, almost turning her back on me.

"-I swear I can bring you a lot of customers, I swear" I said my hand on my heart.

She scratched her nape and wiped some sweat from her forehead.  
"-Right, right tomorrow you're doing the whole gig, I have nobody else… What do you want as a counterpart, more money?"

"-No, just a beer and a mojito…"

She raised an eyebrow.  
"-Ok, a coke and a mojito" I corrected.

She smiled at me and handed me my order. I paid, with the little money I had and took the drinks before turning around hearing her shouting a "This is the last time Shane" as I walked away.

I sit back down at Cherrie's side and took a sip of my coke.  
Cherrie barely had the time to wet her lips in "half of my pocket money", read "her mojito" that Kit, the owner, was on stage and had taken the mike, speaking loud for everybody to hear.

"-Ladies and Gentlemen" She began as the crowd stopped their conversation "Tonight, as a first part, we're gonna welcome a friend of mine, who's wanting to make a name in the music industry as a DJ, she's barely 17 and I swear that she's worth it, so make some noise for DJ Sugar" She put the mike back down on the tripod and went searching for a girl behind the counter.

"-Seriously ?" Screamed Cherrie. She hit her fist on the table when the music began to play. Her action made my glass fall on the table, spilling the dark liquid it was containing on nearly every single inch of my jeans.

"-Fuck… Cherrie !"  
I got up quickly avoiding my jeans to get completely soaked.

"-What the fuck is she doing here" Shouted Cherrie who didn't seemed very interested in the tragedy that had just happened. Ok, tragedy is a big, big word, but unlike her, I was the one laundering at home, so, getting one of my still clean trousers dirty was definitely one.  
I raised my eyes toward the turntables and started laughing.

"-That make you laugh Shane?" She asked me her eyebrows knitted.

I swallowed my saliva to cool me down then wiped my jeans with the tablecloth.  
"-Cherrie, stop doing that to yourself, seriously, this is ridiculous" I replied looking at the DJ with a bright smile catching a glimpse of her eyes.

"-Fuck… this is Mexican" I heard Cherrie say as she was pushing her mojito aside, but her voice seemed several miles away.  
That's when a handbag hit the top of my head.

"-Stop looking at her with those eyes" Cherrie threatened me her bag ready to hit me again.

"-Wait!" I had time to cry out bracing myself while her bag was hitting me relentlessly.  
Although she didn't stop her assault I caught her wrists.  
"-Chill out! I don't give a fuck 'bout that girl" I stated, leaving Carmen's eyes with reluctance. However hard I tried to convince Cherrie, the more I saw that Carmen the more **I **needed to be convinced by what I was saying.

"-So let's go somewhere else, you no longer have anything to drink anyway…" She said mentioning to my empty glass.  
She let me no time to answer and dragged me out of the planet, her mojito-or half of my savings- resting, still full, on the soaked table.

She parked in a deserted alley, unbuckled both of our seatbelts and almost jumped on me, her legs parted to let mines in between.

"-I think I've waited for too long now" She slurred against my ear.

Her hands went up my T-shirt and mines down her skirt.  
That's the way all the night we were spending together would end: sex. No feelings. No conversations. Just blind and meaningless sex. And if that was what she wanted, then she would always get what she wanted from me.

* * *

**Author note : **I know this is taking a lot of chapters to get the story where I want it to go, but I promise in the next chapter Shane and Carmen are going to talk :) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I'm sorry for the time it took me to write it. So let me know about what you think because it's always good to know what your readers like and dislike about what you do.


	4. WAX

4) WAX  
Carmen's point of view

"-Am I looking good?" Asked Pablo, my brother exiting the bathroom with a cloud of steam. He had put on his white dress shirt and his only pair of jeans that weren't torn or disheveled.

"-You're looking as if you were going on a date" I answered him crossing my arms and laughing lightly.

"-I want them to think I am professional!" He said combing his short hair a bit.

"-Nah, you shouldn't do that to your hair, leave them alone" I told him taking the comb away from his grip.

He sighed and grabbed his toothbrush spreading a large amount of paste on it before putting it in his mouth. He eyed me while brushing his teeth and when he was done he said:  
"-You're gonna go dressed like that?"

I looked at myself in the mirror and shrugged. I was wearing tight dark denim shorts and a white hoodie that was covering a red tank top.  
"-Why not?" I questioned raising an eyebrow "At least I don't look like I'm getting married or whatever"

"-All guys are going to be willing to rape you… Anyway… You think it's too dressy?"  
He went next to me and looked the both of us in the mirror. He was looking nothing like himself when he was wearing his usual attire.  
"-Ok it's too dressy"  
He took off his shirt and his pants now running in underwear to his bedroom.

He came out 5 minutes later, dark torn jeans and a baseball shirt put on. I smiled at him, he was so much better in his casual clothes. We went downstairs where Mami was still washing the dishes from the dinner.  
"-I'm taking Carmen with me Mami, I'll keep an eye on her, prometo-lo"

She answered him to be extremely careful with her baby and to come home early in Spanglish, she was always talking in a weird mix of English and Spanish, well, in our family we were all talking this strange language with one another.

"-I hope they are as good as you describe them…" I Said while my brother was shouting along The System of a Down song that was playing in the car.

He stopped and looked at me, lowering the volume.  
"- If they are good? They fucking are!" He told me smiling "They only do covers though, but they sometimes change the songs a bit, Mark the lead singer is talented, I swear"  
I watched his face light up as he was talking.

"-So the lead singer's name is Mark?" I asked rhetorically.

"-Yes, he plays piano too, and the guy I'm attending to replace is named Lisa… I quit doubt it's his real name though… He claims to be a lesbian man, seriously I think he's just straight… Why does everything have to be gay nowadays…?" He sighed "He's a good drummer though, I hope Mark and Shane are going to find me just as good.."

I shot him an interested look and tried to calm down before speaking.  
"-Who is Shane?" I asked my voice shaking a bit, I already knew that too, but I wanted to know more about her and my brother seemed to have answers.

"-The rhythm guitarist" He laughed "I think without Shane there would be no band, she's actually the one linking all of them, and I think she's the one I have to impress" He looked at himself in the rearview "Think I her type ?"

"-Yes, for sure" I scoffed "Pablo she obviously likes girls… I mean, you've seen the same girl as I have?"  
He shrugged.

"It must be a phase or something, that's all" He stated parking in front of the planet.

"-A phase… that's right" I mumbled exasperated.

We were sat at a table, near the scene but also near the bar. There was a mike put on the middle of the scene, and 2 electric guitars were scattered on the floor, an acoustic one was settled on one of the amps, a huge drum was in the background, and a keyboard was in front of the main mike, three other mikes were disposed all around the stage. I could see the dark cables on the ground which would for sure make it difficult for the band to move on the scene as they would have want to.

"-I can't wait" Pablo said excited, holding on his glass of coke so tight that I thought it would break.

"-You never told me you wanted to join a band" I stated relaxing in my seat, my eyes wandering all over the room, they laid on a boy who was sat alone at the bar.

"-I have my secrets Carmen, I'm sure you have some too…" I heard my brother say, but my mind was somewhere else.  
I was used to find all children cute, I was actually planning to adopt every cute child I'd see, and this one seemed to be desperately lonely. I watched him consciously as he was biting his lip and nibbling his fingers. The owner of the club approached him and he looked up at her.

"-You want some crisps Shay ?" She asked him.

"- No, I just want to go home" He mumbled.

"-Yes, but your sister has to work, and nobody else's home…"

"-I know" He stated looking at the scene expectantly.

She glared around her and smiled at me when our gazes met. She seemed to think for a second than took Shay's arm.  
"-Wait, what are…" He began as she dragged him toward me.

"-Hello Carmen" She said "I… I'm quite in need of some help… You see I have to look after this kid and…"

"-I've got a name" The little boy complained.

"- Right, his name is Shay, could you please take care of him for the evening…"

"-OF COURSE !" Claimed my brother grinning like a madman.

I frowned and looked at the boy who was glaring at his shoes then looked back to my brother.  
"-You know him ?" I asked a bit surprised by his reaction.

"- No, but I know who he is" He answered.  
He dragged a chair near our table.  
"-Take a seat chico" Pablo said, patting the chair for Shay to sit down on it.

"- Hu… You want to drink or…?" I tried in a smooth voice, trying my best to be the nicest I could.

He raised his to blue orbs and looked right into my dark ones.  
"- What's your name ?"  
He had a rather low voice for a child and a sweet tone that was almost making me melt.

"- Carmen, and yours is Shay then ?"  
He nodded.

"-Mine is Pablo, P.A.B.L.O, Pablo De la Pica Morales, you can write it down because you may want to talk about me to your sister or…"

"-Why would I do that?" Asked Shay scratching his nape.

"- Don't pay attention to him, he's weird" I stated as my brother was crossing his big arms over his chest. "Maybe he's interested in your sister…"

"- Shane don't do guys, man" Shay mocked with a big smile on his mouth.

"- I'm not interested in her, but in her music" Pablo said in a haughty manner while I was registering what he had just said.

"-Excuse me?" Someone said in the mike located in the front of the stage making the crowd turning their heads to look at him. "-Hello, well err, I'm Mark, the lead singer of Wax and hu… Well, I'm not good for introductions… So we are a rock band, and we …err, we are gonna cover some songs and err, well you've got the point I think."  
He stepped back a little and closed his eyes. He grabbed his tie awkwardly and started to sing.  
"-So why do good girls like bad guys, I had this question for a really long time I've been a bad boy and it's plain to see…" All the lights turned on, and there were 4 musicians with him on the scene. I recognized the blonde girl from the other day in front of one of the mike, wearing a simple black dress. I didn't know the bassist, he was a skater for sure and had disheveled blond hair styled in a screwed up hairdo. The drummer had short hair and was eying the blonde guitarist while he was playing, so that was the lesbian guy…  
"-SO WHY DO GOOD GIRLS FALL IN LOVE WITH ME?" Sang Mark and the second guitarist.

In the back of my head I already knew who it was, so I let my eyes drift to her figure. She was looking good. So damned good. She was dressed just like Mark, with dark jeans, a white dress shirt and a black tie. Her dark bangs were covering her eyes, and her fingers were moving on the power chords with agility.

"-Fuck yeah" I heard my brother mutter.  
Mark moved back and started to head bang with his mike in his hand while Shane sang alone.

"-You got a pep in your step, you live your life with no regrets, how you look when you are wet is something I cannot forget, I just wanna kiss your lips" Her smile widened "the ones between your hips, if I cash in all my chips on you then baby I'd be rich, so come on !"

Mark went back to his position and sang the chorus.  
I was horrified to see that Shay was mouthing the lyrics, meaning he knew them by heart.  
In one hand I wanted to take him out of there to protect his pure and innocent ears and in the other hand, I wanted to just stay here and stare at that girl I didn't even know.  
She was the personification of my dreams, I had never seen someone like that, she just had to look in my way and all my defenses were falling down into nothingness.

I was drown out of my fantasies when I heard Mark saying "So please just take it in, and suck my dick" Well he did not say the last word, but I guessed what he was about to say. I think that having Pablo screaming the word at the top of his lungs quite helped me. Now, all the musicians were looking our way while singing and I felt my cheeks burning when two sparkling green eyes looked down on me.

Don't ask me if I enjoyed the music, because I think I only listened to the parts where the low and husky voice of Shane showed up. Don't get me wrong, Mark was good. But… Well, he wasn't the one who was making me feel as if I was in heaven. And, I was sure that at some point Shane was looking at me sitting here and grinning to myself, blushing like crazy.

"-So, this was our last song, I hope you enjoyed the show, and you can see us again at Wax, it's… well it's a warehouse with a skate park in front, it's our place, we organize parties there and things like that so if you're interested, the entries are free" Said Mark drying his forehead with his sleeve "I think Shane wanted to do something alone"

"-I didn't want to fucker" She hissed in her mike.

"-Right, she lost a bet, and now she has to sing all alone, I'm always winning my bets by the way" He said before going out of the stage followed by the 4 other musicians. "Good luck" He whispered in her mike while patting her shoulder when he passed her by.

The four of them sat at a table right in front of the scene while Shane had taken Mark place, and was holding the acoustic guitar (who had been forgotten during the show). She took a cigarette, put it in her mouth and lit it, inhaling.

"-Hello" She said dumbly breathing the smoke out.

"-Hello" Answered the crowd. And that was when I realized that I wasn't the only girl looking at her with dreamful eyes. Some were almost drooling. And Shane seemed to know she had this kind of effect on us. Fuck. She was a player. Her eyes were giving her away.

"- So Mark bet that I wouldn't resist a one night stand with that other girl, I said I would. Well as you can see I've slept with her, anyway, I'm gonna sing "slow dance with a stranger" from Danger Radio, because, err, I had the tabs home…"

I was silently fuming. My suspicions were true then. She was actually sleeping with everything that seemed to have two legs, two arms and two boobs. Fucking great. Now I could cry for my sorry virgin ass.

"- Lifeline, call in the cavalry, tonight, you're making it so hard to breath, every time, you wrap your arms around me" She sang, lower and slower than in the original song " breakdown, you know I'm feeling you, there's no sound, except for when our bodies move. What have I got myself up into?"  
The acoustic sound was suiting the song, even if it seemed more intimate and sexual than the normal version. Well this impression was maybe just due to Shane.  
"-Girl you make me feel like I'm walking into danger, and I don't really care, girl I think I'm ready for a slow dance with a stranger, I want you to take me there"  
She stepped of the stage and walked between the rows of tables.  
"- I think I'm ready for, it, girl you know I can't ignore it, step on the gas let's floor it, everything you want and more, cause I think I'm ready for a slow dance with a stranger" she went on, stopping sometimes to bend over the shoulder of an unknown girl.  
"- Right now, my heart is beating out my chest, going down, yeah, I'm the one who does you best, round and round, you are making me obsessed, got one request…"  
She was heading my way, walking so slowly, her silhouette even more bowed than usually and her smooth skin lighted by the spots on the ceiling.  
"Lay back, Let me take the driver seat, it's a fact, that you make my life complete" She grinned and white teeth appeared while she was making her way toward me. She looked up a bit, and I saw her glance poking out of her bangs and landing on me. "I'll attack your every fantasy baby"  
At this point I was almost expecting her to take me right there on the table, but no, she turned round and resumed singing, leaving me staring at nothing, too shocked to react.

"-She's good, don't you think?" Shay asked me, pulling my sleeve lightly.  
The song was over and I was still watching some invisible point in the wall and gaping like a fish out of the water.

I blinked a few times and nodded.

"- So damned good" muttered Pablo, head in hands. "I'm never going to be good enough for joining the band…"

"- You know, they really do have problems with Lisa, so they'll have to find someone else anyway" Said Shay rubbing my brother's back.

"-You made friends Shay?" Asked a voice that I had learn to know.

"-Yes Shane, this is Pablo, P.A.B.L.O" He mocked "And Carmen, they stayed with me when you had better things to do" He hissed.

"-Sorry Shay, I couldn't do otherwise. You enjoyed the show?"  
She took her brother's seat and sat him on her lap.

"-Yes, you are pretty good" He stated smiling.

She then turned to me.  
"-Thank you very much… I owe you, hm, what can I do for you to make us even?"

"-No, you owe me nothing, nothing, really, it was nothing of a big deal I swear…" I stuttered feeling heat rising in my cheeks.

She was about to answer but we were interrupted by Lisa who was knelt and almost screaming.

"-ALICE I LOVE YOU, CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?"

"-Shut up everybody's looking" She answered looking around her not at ease.

"-Please give me another chance, I'll be the best lesbian boyfriend ever!" He grabbed her ankle and held on while she was trying to let go of him.

"-Stop bitching and get to your feet, your ridiculous Lisa" Mark mocked from his chair.  
Lisa looked up at him and clenched his jaw as anger was fueling him. He stepped toward Mark and grabbed him by the collar. Mark, who was a bit taller, pushed him away.

"-Caution" Warned Mark smoothing his shirt with his hands.

"-It's your fault if she's no more in love with me!" Screamed Lisa

"-My fault? I'm not the one that slept with her, dammit, Lisa ! If you have someone to strangle it's Andrew, not me"

"- But you're the one kicking me out of the band!"

Mark's eyebrows knitted in a reprobating manner.  
"-Man, you and Alice can't bear one another, Alice's more my friends than you, I'm sorry if you are the one we choose to sacrifice"

"-I'm gonna kill you" Yelled the drummer aiming for Mark's head.

Mark stopped his arm and punched him in the ribs. He was about to give him another shot when Kit appeared from nowhere and push them both toward the exit door.

"-NO VIOLENCE HERE" She stated loudly, pulling them apart in the process.

In few seconds the bar was silent again. Then people went back to their conversations and resumed drinking.

"-Shit, we really need a new drummer before it goes too bad" Shane sighed. "Fuck, it's late, I have to go back home…"  
She made me remember that I shouldn't come home late neither. I turned to my brother and found out that he was sleeping, his head resting on the cold table. I turned to Shane for some help, but her brother, comfortably seated in her arms was snorting lightly.

"-Shay, we have to go home, I don't have the car tonight, we have a bit of walk to do… Shay?"  
He rubbed his forehead against her shoulder.  
"-I don't want to…"

She shook him a bit to wake him up and I did the same to Pablo but much more forcefully.

"- Pablo tenemos que volver a casa" I snapped my fingers in front of his face "Pablo, wake up"

He muttered something inaudible and got back to his feet, rub his tired eyes like a baby.  
By the time he managed to walk properly, Shane and Shay had made their way to the front door. I had to speed up to catch them.

"-I heard you have to walk home… Do you want me to drive you there? Because I have a car and…"

"-NO ! That's ok, that's ok, we don't live so far from here, don't worry, thank you anyway" She told me "Goodbye Carmen, it was nice to meet you" She then ceased the knob and walk outside. I watched her go, her brother's hand in hers, her figure quickly swallowed by the darkness.

Pablo joined me seconds after, almost pushing me outside. And it was raining. Well, it was even pouring! It took us half a minute to get to the car, and well it took us half a minute to be nearly drenched. Pablo sat in the backseat to have more space to sleep. So I took the driver seat and started up the car.

I drove for a bit, very slowly and carefully because of the rain, it was blurring my vision and preventing the tyres from holding the road. The streets were dark but at some point, two persons came in my sight, caught in the head lights. I recognize Shane, who was holding Shay close and who was using her shirt to cover his head. I slowed down and opened the car-window.

"-Come on, I'm driving you home" I shouted to be sure they would hear me.  
She turned her head, her face showing surprise. She seemed to hesitate for a while but finally came near. I got off the car and opened the backdoor for Shay to sit next to my brother. She understood my motion, took off her shirt, she was now only wearing a white tank top and her tie, and dried Shay's hair the best she could before helping him climbing in the car. I went back inside and she took the passenger seat, whispering a "thank you" when she closed the door. She dried her own hair with her soaked shirt and closed her eyes. I heard Shay's teeth chattering and I almost could feel him shaking, so I took off my hoodie, turned round and handed it to Shay.

"-It's completely dry inside, put it on" I told him.  
He smiled and did as he was told.

"-You would be a perfect mother" Shane whispered as I resumed driving.

"-I'm pretty sure you would be too" I answered pointing at her drenched and crumpled shirt, which was now resting on the dashboard.

"-Turn here, at your right." She told me pointing somewhere at the road.  
I followed her indications silently.

"-So you are a cheerleader?" She asked breaking the silence.  
I was quite surprised with her question and turned to her for a second. She was grinning to me and rubbing her wet arms with her palms to keep warm.

"-Yes, I am.."

"-And, hm, you are good at it ?"

I laughed.  
"-We needn't talk you know" I assured smiling.

"-Most of the girls I know love talking actually"

"-I'm not an exception then, but, if you don't want to talk, I understand…"

She chuckled and looked at the road.  
"-Just keep driving straightforward" I heard her mutter.

I did as I was told and the silence came back, thick but pleasant in a strange way. I shivered. I was getting really cold. I suddenly felt a warm hand rubbing my arm. I look down on it just to make sure it was what I thought.

"-Keep your eyes on the road" Shane warned me, bent over the gearshift to be closer, her tie brushing my hand.

How could she ask me that? It was pure torture. She was so damned close and I was supposed to drive. God.  
Her hand left my arm, too soon… She searched in her pockets and took a cigarette that seemed dry enough to be lit.

"-Mind if I smoke?"

"No" I stated watching her lips for a second while they were enlightened by her lighter.

"-My brother wants to be part of your band, He's a good drummer you know" I added when she had taken a drag.

"-Yes, I quite understood he was interested, yesterday he was almost kissing my ass" She smiled that bright smile I liked. "And remember I owe you for tonight, so he might have privileges"

I turned to her bemused but quite happy too.

"-I'm joking" She chuckled "If he's good, he'll get his chance, but I'm not gonna favor him or something. I'll repay you with something else"

"-Like, with what?" I asked interested.

"-I can't take you out for dinner, I can't buy you a present, and I can't pay for the gas you used tonight, I'm completely out of money"

"-I told you it was nothing…"

"-Carmen."

I looked at her, damned, my name was suiting her lips. I shook my head.  
"-What?"

"- Park here." She point a house on the left "And I told you I was going to repay you for this, so I'll do it, no matter how much you don't want me too."

I was about to answer but she throw her shirt in my face.  
"-Hey !" I shouted.

"-Let it dry here, you'll give it back to me another day"

She got out of the car, opened the back car-door and took the sleeping Shay in her arms.  
I wasn't expecting a goodbye or anything, but I heard a small knock at my window. I opened it, her face poked out of nowhere and her lips left a kiss on my cheek.  
"-See you" She said, trying to support her brother weight.

I watched her go, sighed, and started up the car again. I looked down on my knees briefly, her shirt was resting here, leaving me with some kind of proof it was not a dream.

* * *

**Author note : **I know it took me an eternity to update, but I hope it was worth your wait. I made it a bit longer and finally they got to talk to each other :). The two songs I used are "good girls bad guys" by falling in reverse and "slow dance with a stranger" by Danger: Radio. Hope you still like it, feel free to let me know what you think of this, reviews always make me happy and motivate me. Anyway, thanks a lot for reading !


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